Chris Christie ahead of the GOP curve on same-sex marriage

By Julian Zelizer, CNN Contributor

Updated 8:27 AM ET, Wed October 23, 2013

Same-sex marriage in the U.S.32 photos

Shante Wolfe, left, and Tori Sisson are cheered Monday, February 9, as they become the first same-sex couple to file their marriage license in Montgomery, Alabama. Federal courts have cleared the way for same-sex marriages in the state.

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Newlyweds Jeff Delmay and Todd Delmay hug during a marriage ceremony in a Miami courtroom on Monday, January 5. Florida began allowing same-sex marriages after a judge -- following similar rulings across the nation -- struck down the state's old law banning such unions.

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Chad Biggs, left, and his fiance, Chris Creech, say their wedding vows at the Wake County Courthouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, October 10, after a federal judge ruled that same-sex marriage can begin there.

From left, plaintiffs Moudi Sbeity; his partner, Derek Kitchen; Kody Partridge; and Partridge's wife, Laurie Wood, celebrate after a news conference in Salt Lake City on Monday, October 6. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for legal same-sex marriages in five more states -- Virginia, Utah, Nevada, Indiana and Wisconsin.

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Abbi Huber, left, and Talia Frolkis exit the City County Building in Madison, Wisconsin, after applying for a marriage license on October 6.

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Rob MacPherson, right, and his husband, Steven Stolen, hug during a news conference at the American Civil Liberties Union in Indianapolis on October 6.

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Mary Bishop, second from left, and Sharon Baldwin, right, celebrate with family and friends following their wedding ceremony on the courthouse steps in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on October 6.

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Jennifer Melsop, left, and Erika Turner kiss after they were married in front of the Arlington County Courthouse in Arlington, Virginia, on October 6.

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Pastor Carol Hill from Epworth United Methodist Church speaks during a marriage-equality ceremony at the Kathy Osterman Beach in Chicago on Sunday, June 1. June 1 marked the first day that all of Illinois' 102 counties could begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

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William Roletter, left, and Paul Rowe, right, press close to each other after having their photo taken with their newly acquired marriage certificate Wednesday, May 21, at City Hall in Philadelphia.

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Julie Engbloom, left, and Laurie Brown embrace after they were wed in Portland, Oregon, on Monday, May 19. A federal judge struck down the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

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Jennifer Rambo, right, kisses her partner, Kristin Seaton, after their marriage ceremony in front of the Carroll County Courthouse in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on Saturday, May 10. Rambo and Seaton were the first same-sex couple to be granted a marriage license in Eureka Springs after a judge overturned Amendment 83, which banned same-sex marriage in Arkansas.

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Same-sex couples get their marriage licenses at the Oakland County Courthouse in Pontiac, Michigan, on Saturday, March 22, a day after a federal judge overturned Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage.

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Utah state Sen. Jim Dabakis, left, and Stephen Justesen acknowledge the crowd after being married in Salt Lake City in December 2013.

Hawaiian Gov. Neil Abercrombie, left, and former Sen. Avery Chumbley celebrate with a copy of the Star-Advertiser after Abercrombie signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Hawaii in November 2013.

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Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker officiates a wedding ceremony for Joseph Panessidi and Orville Bell at City Hall in October 2013. The state Supreme Court denied the state's request to prevent same-sex marriages temporarily, clearing the way for same-sex couples to marry.

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A couple celebrates at San Francisco City Hall upon hearing about the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage in June 2013. The high court cleared the way for same-sex couples in California to resume marrying after dismissing an appeal on Proposition 8 on jurisdictional grounds. The court also struck down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

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At the state Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, Gov. Mark Dayton signs a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in May 2013.

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Delaware Gov. Jack Markell holds up legislation in May 2013 allowing same-sex couples to wed in the state.

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Rhode Island state Sen. Donna Nesselbush, right, embraces a supporter after the Marriage Equality Act was signed into law at the statehouse in Providence in May 2013.

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Jamous Lizotte, right, and Steven Jones pose for photos while waiting for a marriage license in Portland, Maine, in December 2012.

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Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, center, shakes hands with Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller after signing a same-sex marriage bill in March 2012. The law was challenged, but voters approved marriage equality in a November 2012 referendum.

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Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire celebrates after signing marriage-equality legislation into law on February 13, 2012. Voters there approved same-sex marriage in November 2012.

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Phyllis Siegel, right, kisses her wife, Connie Kopelov, after exchanging vows at the Manhattan City Clerk's office on July 24, 2011, the first day New York's Marriage Equality Act went into effect.

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In 2010, television reporter Roby Chavez, right, shares a moment with gay rights activist Frank Kameny during Chavez and Chris Roe's wedding ceremony in the nation's capital. Same-sex marriage became legal in Washington in March 2010.

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Olin Burkhart, left, and Carl Burkhart kiss on the steps of the New Hampshire Capitol in January 2010 after the state's law allowing same-sex marriage went into effect.

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Maine state Sen. Dennis Damon, left, hands Gov. John Baldacci the bill that the state Senate passed in May 2009 to affirm the right of same-sex couples to marry.

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Amy Klein-Matheny, left, and her wife, Jennifer, exchange vows in Iowa after same-sex couples were allowed to marry there with a court ruling in April 2009.

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Michael Miller, left, and Ross Zachs marry on the West Hartford Town Hall steps after same-sex marriages became legal in Connecticut on November 12, 2008.

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Lara Ramsey, left, and her partner of eight years, Jane Lohmann, play with their 7-month-old son, Wyatt Ramsey-Lohmann. The two wed in 2004 after Massachusetts approved same-sex marriage. Massachusetts was the first state to do so.

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Story highlights

Chris Christie chose not to appeal decision allowing same-sex marriage in New Jersey

By marrying their cause to family values, they won over some in GOP, he says

Zelizer: Same-sex marriage is unlikely to be source of continuing conflict

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made headlines when he backed away from his opposition to same-sex marriage in New Jersey. Although he had initially indicated that he would challenge the recent court decision, Christie reversed course and announced that he would follow the law of his state.

Most pundits agreed that Christie's decision would enable him to expand his margin of victory in the upcoming gubernatorial election and improve his chances of emerging as the leading Republican presidential candidate for 2016.

Yet some commentators think this might cause objections to a Christie candidacy in the Republican primaries from social conservatives who remain firmly against same-sex marriage.

In their view, Christie is an outlier, a Republican courting centrist voters who is going against the grain of the party. "This would suit him a lot better if he were running as a Democrat," one Republican told The National Review.

Julian Zelizer

But there is a strong likelihood that within a few years, Christie might not be as much of an anomaly as they think. The progress on same-sex marriage has been rapid.

While the Defense of Marriage Act defined marriage as only being between a man and woman, many states moved forward in allowing same-sex couples to enter into marriage or civil unions.

Prodded by Vice President Joe Biden, President Obama said in May 2012 that he supported the right of same-sex partners to enter into marriage. In June this year, the Supreme Court ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional and that fsame- sex couples had the right to federal benefits that were normally accorded to heterosexual married couples.

One of the most important reasons behind the success of this movement has been the decision to join the gay rights cause to a traditional family values issue promoted by the right: marriage. In recent decades, the gay rights movement has turned its attention away from issues of individual sexuality and liberation, and toward the right to marry. The civil right to enter into a partnership that conservatives have extolled for decades has been extremely important politically.

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Christie withdraws appeal on gay marriage

In the early 1960s, civil rights leaders like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. won enormous support by connecting the cause of African-American freedom to traditional American values. In August 1963, during the famous March on Washington, King and others delivered their powerful speeches in front of the Lincoln Memorial, a reminder of how desegregation—and then voting rights—were a fulfillment of the American promise rather than a rejection of traditional values.

Unlike abortion after the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, there is much stronger potential for same-sex marriage to become incorporated into the national landscape and removed from mainstream political debate.

As the courts and states have moved forward at a rapid pace on this issue, the rest of the nation has not been far behind. Public polls have shown growing support for same-sex marriage throughout the country, including in "red areas" of the country.

Last March, a poll by ABC News and the Washington Post found that 52% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican under the age of 50 supported same-sex marriage and 81% of people under 30 were in favor. Those trends have only intensified in recent months.

We have also seen more frequent images of same-sex marriage in popular culture. In one of the most popular comedy shows of the past few years, "Modern Family," one of the three families that is followed in this pseudo-documentary is a gay couple raising an adopted child.

While their sexuality is part of the story, it is remarkable how most of the shows don't center on this issue but instead on the normal ups and downs of family life. This season, the show began with these two characters, Mitch and Cam, becoming engaged in the wake of California's decision to allow same-sex marriage.

A growing number of Republicans have already backed away from their opposition to same-sex marriage. Christie is just one of those who have changed the tone of the party on this cultural question -- a group that includes Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Robert Portman and former Vice President Dick Cheney -- in an era when polarization has become stronger on almost every other issue. As Mitt Romney adviser David Kochel said, "Opposing the freedom to marry is a loser for our party and serves to drive away a growing number of voters who have turned the page."

So, even though Christie is taking a risk through his recent announcement, the odds are that many other Republicans won't be far behind. The gay rights movement has profoundly shifted the debate and advanced the cause of gay rights far beyond what anyone had imagined just a few years ago.

By taking one of the most familiar and central conservative arguments of our era, marriage, and embracing it as one of their own, the movement has gained legitimacy for the right of gay Americans to build their own families. There will be huge pressure on Republicans in the coming years to get on the right side of this issue and movement activists have made it easier for leaders in the GOP to come around to their side.